Sections of This Module Include the Following

INTRODUCTION

This module provides a set of extensive checklists that can
be used to assess the health of a business's practices in the
areas of legal, governance (Board), human resource management
and supervision, market research, advertising, public relations,
customer service and sales, and financial management.

If you have completed the various learning modules in the organization
development program, then the various checklists in this module
will likely indicate that the practices in your business are very
healthy.

OUTCOMES

Evaluate Quality of:

Compliance to Laws and Regulations

Board Operations

Strategic Planning

Supervisory and Human Resource Management Practices

Market Research

Advertising

Public Relations

Customer Service and Sales

Financial Management

MATERIALS FOR REVIEW

The following materials will help you address each of
the topics and learning activities in this module.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR REFLECTION
AND DISCUSSION

Learners are strongly encouraged to discuss the following
questions with peers, board members, management and staff, as
appropriate.

1. After doing the above assessment, identify the 2 or 3 functions
(Boards, human resources, planning, etc.) that had the most checkmarks
in the "Needs Work" columns.

2. Which of those 2 or 3 functions needs attention before the
others? If the Board and/or Strategic Planning got the most checkmarks,
then be sure those functions get prompt attention because, without
attending to them, it's not likely that improvements in other
functions will last very long. Those two functions are what tend
to ensure the long-term health of all other functions.

ACTIVITIES TO BUILD SYSTEMS AND
PRACTICES

Learners are strongly encouraged to complete the following
activities, and share and discuss results with peers, board members,
management and staff, as appropriate.

1. After identifying which of the 2 or 3 functions need the
most attention (see #1 above) for now, list the activities that
were marked as "Needs Work" in each of those functions,
eg., list the activities that "Needs Work" in Boards.

2. For each of those lists, refer to that list as a "Work
Plan" and assign that Plan to a Board Committee to oversee
that the list is addressed, eg, assign the list of "Needs
Work" in the Board function to a Board Development Committee
or assign the list of "Needs Work" in the finances function
to a Finance Committee to ensure the list is addressed.

ASSESSMENTS

There are no assessments in this section of the module, as
there are in the other modules in the program, because this module
is all about assessments, as provided above.

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization is struggling
is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed. (Open
action items are required actions that have not yet been completed.)
Instead, organization members only see and react to the latest
"fires in the workplace". Whether open action items
are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be
forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open
action items that includes listing each open action item, who
is responsible to complete it, when it should be completed and
any associated comments. When updating the list, consider action
items as identified during discussions, learning activities and
assessments in this module. Share and regularly review this action
item list with the appropriate board, management and staff members
in your organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List.

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.

REMINDERS FOR THOSE IN THE ON-LINE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

1. Are you exchanging feedback with others about what you're
learning in this program?

2. Are you sticking to your study schedule for this program?

3. Are you practicing your basic skills in management and leadership,
including in problem solving and decision making, planning and
meeting management?

4. Are you communicating throughout your organization by using
your skills in internal communications?

5. Are you managing yourself? How many hours a week are you
working? Are you noticing any signs of stress? If so, what are
you doing about it?

6. One of the ways you might be able to tell if you're stressed
out and/or losing perspective might be whether you're tracking
details or not. Are you using the action item list referenced
above?

7. Are you reflecting on learnings from past modules and how
they build on the learning in this module? For example, are you
seeing your organization from a systems view, as explained in
the module "Starting and Understanding Your Organization"?

TRACKING OPEN ACTION ITEMS

1. One of the first indicators that an organization or a person
is struggling is that open action items are not tracked and reviewed.
(Open action items are required actions that have not yet been
completed.) Instead, people only see and react to the latest "fires"
in their workplaces or their lives. Whether open action items
are critical to address now or not, they should not entirely be
forgotten. Therefore, update and regularly review a list of open
action items (identified while proceeding through this program)
that includes listing each open action item, who is responsible
to complete it, when it should be completed and any associated
comments. When updating the list, consider action items as identified
during discussions, learning activities and assessments in this
module. Share and regularly review this action item list with
the appropriate peers, board, management and employees in your
organization. You can use the following Action Item Planning List. (At that Web address,
a box might open, asking you which software application to open
the document.)

2. If you have questions, consider posing them in the national,
free, online discussion group hr.com, which is attended
by many human resource and organization development experts.